Reed cutter



Sept 11, 1923. 1,467,806

-"NAUJOKS ET AL REED CUTTER Filed Jan. 2, 1923 Patented Sept. 11, 1923.

warren srarss p 1,467,806 PATENT .QFFICE.

WILLIAM NAUJ'OKS AND EVERETT E. radiance-nun, or Los AEGELEs, CALIFORNIA.

REED CUTTER.

T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, WILLIAM NAUJoKs and EVERETT E. MGLAUGI-ILIN, citizens of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles andState of California, have invented a newand useful Reed Cutter, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices of the character employed in cutting or trimming the reeds of wind musical instruments.

An object of the invention is to provide a cutter of this type that can be employed for cutting various sizes of reeds so that, with the one device, the instrumentalist will be enabled to trim the reeds belonging to diftierent sizes or kinds of instruments that he may be using at difierent times.

Another object of the invention is to produce a reed cutter that will be very compact, even though provision is made for trimming various sizes of reeds with the one cutter.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention:

Figure l is a plan view of a reed cutter embodying the invention.

Fig. Qis a longitudinal sectional elevation on the median line of Figure 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation on the line indicated by 3-3, Figure 1. I

The reed cutter is stamped or cut from sheet metal, preferably by dies made in a manner well understood in the die makers art. There are provided, at each end of the sheet metal member, outer cutter members 4, inner cutter members 5 and intermediate cutter members 6. Concave cutting edges 7 in the end portions of the members 4 co-operate with convex cutting edges 8 in the end portions of the members 6. The end portions of the members 6 are also provided, opposite the cutting edges 8, with concave cutting edges 9 which cooperate with conveX cutting edges 10 on the end portions of the members 5.

The cutter members are of spring character and the cutting members 4 are normally flat, being connected together at their inner ends. The cutting members 4, 5 and 6 are connected to one another by a cross member 11, the members 4 and 6 being otherwise separated by slots 12 and the cutting members 5, 6 being otherwise separated by slots 13. Normally the cutting mem- 8, 10, 'jacent tion away from their associated member 4, and the members 5, 6 at the opposite end are normally bent in the opposite direction away from their associated member 4. The advantage in this is that, when trimming a reed, indicated at a in dotted lines in Figure 2, said reed is supported near its rear end by the elevated end of the cutting member 5 that is farthest from the cutting edges that cooperate to cut the reed.

The cross member 11 is flat the same as the members 4 and lies in the same plane as the members 4, and the cutting members 5, 6 extend at angles to the plane of the cross members.

During the process of manufacture of the cutter, the cutting members 6 are elongated with respect to the cutting members 6 so that the cutting edges cannot be pressed past the adfaces of the cutting members 4, 6, respectively. The slight difference in lengths of the members 4, 6, is indicated by the dotted line 6 in Figure 2. The advantage of this construction is that it produces a cleaner out than if the cutting members were shortened to permit them to be pressed into the same plane as the cutting members with which they cooperate to cut the reed. It will be understood that the cutting edges 7, 8 at one end of the cutter are of different lengths than the cutting edges of the corresponding cutter member at the other end, and that the cutting edges 9, 10 at one end are of different lengths than the cutting edges of the corresponding cutter member at the other end, *so that four different widths of reeds can be trimmed in the cutter.

' The cutting edges 7 form recesses in the inner edges of the members 4 and the cut ting edges 8 are formed on tongues 14 defined at their side margins by the slots 12. The cutting edges 9 form recesses in the inner edges ofthe members 6 and the cutting edges 10 are formed on heads 15 which are wider than the remainder of the members 5.

To use the cutter, the reed, indicated at a,

will be placed with its tip inserted in the space between whatever two cooperating cutting edges correspond to the width of the reed, and then the two members upon which said cutting edges are formed, will be firmly pressed together by the operator for example, between the thumb and forefinger, so as to shear that portion of the tip of the reed that projects beyond the cutting edge of the member against which the tip of the reed rests. In Figure 2 the tip of the reed rests, in this instance, upon the cutting member 6.

We claim:

1. A reed cutter comprising a sheet metal member having outer, inner and intermediate outter members, the outer and intermediate cutter members having cooperating cutting edges and the inner and intermediate cutter members having cooperating cutting edges. 7

2. A reed cutter comprising a sheet metal member having a plurality of cutter membersat opposite ends, the cutter members at each end having cooperating cutting edges and normally lying at an angle to each other, one of the cutter members at one end normally being bent in one direction away from its associated cutter member and one of the cutter members at the opposite end normally being bent in the opposite direction away from its associated cutter memher.

3. A reed cutter comprising a sheet metal member having cutter members connected at one end and otherwise separated by slots, one of the cutter members having ahead whose side edges are defined by the slots the head having a cutting edge, and the other cutter member having a cutting edge cooperating with the first cutting edge.

Signed at Los Angeles, Calif., this 20th day of December, 1922.

lVILLIAM NAUJOKS. EVERETT E. MCLAUGHLIN. 

